"A family located in the northern part of London seeks an exceptional and skilled tutor to support their most junior child on his first steps to becoming an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this advertisement, you might easily skip the term "beginning" as simple figurative language.
Yet, it could be the most important part of this distinctive employment listing, as it seeks to hire a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Numerous of applications have since been sent in since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180,000 per year tutor, who needs to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the post has gained notice in the press, with many asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
A tutoring expert, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is assisting the family in their search, said that in spite of early skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "advanced".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the atypical aspect of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had adopted "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with standard English accent, to influence the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the education at the beginning here is rather acquired indirectly," said the expert.
It's by means of this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they want to impart.
The consultant explained the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the appropriate educational institutions – similar types of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he commented.
Expense Not a Factor
The family informed him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and music so as to shape the child in a broad spectrum of passions.
Additionally though, he explained the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an tool by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "UK sophisticate" will bring about achievement and create opportunities.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
Yet, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", would the child adopt alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he resides with in any case?
"Yes", replied the CEO. "They realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not a concern," he said.
Impractical
A number of in the tutoring industry who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, commented that "the process of becoming bicultural, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not engineered."
He wrote that he had relocated from the Far East to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing both cultures. He went on to study at Cambridge University.
"The notion that one individual can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can in some way impart the attributes of a British gentleman onto a infant child, strikes me as optimistic and unfeasible," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will not automatically produce the result they want.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to enjoy numerous of the opportunities they hope for their son."
He added: "The truth is, self-identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, UK identity is something Adam thinks can be educated – and sold.
"In my view the situation that the international society regards us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
